Book Review: The Winter Sister

I got this book as part of the subscription to Book of the Month I was gifted for Christmas. I was excited to dig into it, I love a good mystery. And for a while, I truly enjoyed it…

The plot follows Sylvie, a woman in her early thirties, as she struggles to not only deal with everyday life but with the aftermath of her sister’s murder 15 years earlier and her mother’s cancer. As she moves back into her childhood home and faces a mother who has become a stranger, she begins to dig into the past.

I won’t give anything away that will spoil the “mystery” at the heart of the book, namely who murdered Sylvie’s sister Persephone. In a lot of ways, the book is very much in the style of Gillian Flynn’s “Dark Places”. It has that same overwhelming moodiness and a similar set of plot devices.

I truly enjoyed this book as I was reading it. However, the ending left a lot to be desired. The “twist” was broadcast from a long way off. The ending didn’t feel earned by the characters. Nothing they did really brought about the result and it felt more like a coincidence.

One of the main problems I had with this book, and all of Gillian Flynn’s books as well, is that all of the characters are horrible people with no redeeming qualities. You don’t care what happens to them because they’re all so loathsome. And so there was no one to root for in this mess. I don’t need characters to be perfect, shiny heroes facing off against wicked, soulless villains. But giving a character, especially the main point of view character, some redeeming quality that makes you say “Well, they aren’t great, but I want them to succeed in this one specific thing” goes a long way towards making their awful characteristics more bearable.

At the end of the day, I’d give it a 3/5. It was fairly enjoyable to read and I would recommend it for long airplane rides, but I won’t be re-reading it.

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ktbyrdewrites

I'm 31. I live in the cornfields of northwest Illinois, which generates incredible wanderlust. I am an 8 time Nanowrimo participant and 4-time winner! I write historical fiction and mysteries.
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